This repository is the source code for the lswin and movewin
programs, which are OS X command line programs to list and move desktop
windows, respectively.
To build from source:
$ make
To install from this repository into the system (default /usr/local):
$ make install
To list open windows, their locations, and sizes:
$ lswin
To move a window from to the upper left corner:
$ movewin 'iTerm - Default' 0 0
Moving windows requires accessibility access to be enabled.
These OS X command line programs list and move desktop windows. Listing windows is done using Quartz window functions, and moving them is accomplished using the OS X accessibility APIs.
The lswin program lists each visible window on the current desktop
of the current display. Each line of output includes the application
name (like iTerm or Firefox), the window title (like Default or
Google), and the position and size of each window. For example:
$ lswin
iTerm - Default - 0 22 745 458
Firefox - Google - 216 22 1224 874
In the above example, there are two windows open in the current desktop of the current display; one an 80x24 iTerm terminal at the upper left, the other a Firefox window at the upper right, spanning the entirety of a 2010-era MacBook Air.
lswin takes a single optional command line argument, which is a
pattern, treated like a filename glob, that is matched (unanchored)
against the "Application Name - Window Title" string. For example:
$ lswin iTerm
iTerm - Default - 0 22 745 458
$ lswin 'G*le'
Firefox - Google - 216 22 1224 874
The movewin program moves windows. It takes a required pattern, which
is treated the same way as patterns are in lswin, required new X and Y
coordinates to move the window to, and an optional new width and height
to resize the window to. For example, this moves iTerm to near the
middle of the screen, and resizes it:
$ movewin 'iTerm - Default' 340 240 745 458
Coordinates may be negative, so this snaps a window to the upper right:
$ movewin 'Firefox - GitHub' -0 0
In case you actually do want to move a window off screen, the -n
command line option tells movewin to treat negative coordinates as
absolute coordinates, rather than being relative to the right or bottom
edge of the display. This moves a terminal window so its left edge is
off the display:
$ movewin -n iTerm -100 240
If multiple windows have the same title, you can use the -i (index)
option to select which window to move. The index starts at zero.
The movewin program requires the "Enable access for assistive devices"
setting to be enabled in the "Accessibility" System Preferences pane in
OS X pre-Mavericks. To enable assistive UI scripting in Mavericks, see
this Apple KB article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5914
The source code for these command line programs can be found on GitHub:
For scripting, a Ruby gem that lists and moves OS X windows from Ruby
(and which reuses winutils.h and winutils.c) is also on GitHub:
Andrew Ho ([email protected])
Copyright (c) 2014-2020, Andrew Ho.
All rights reserved.
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modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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